TSMC plans low volume 20nm production in 2013

TSMC plans to start volume 20nm production in 2014, but low-volume production is slated to start next year.

TSMC CEO Morris Chang claims “some” production of 20nm parts will start next year, but on a very small scale. “Very low, what we would call a risk type of production basically,” he said.

Chang added that 2014 will be a “ramp year” for 20nm SoCs, which means we are unlikely to see 20nm phones and tablets anytime soon. This also means that roughly two generations of upcoming GPUs will probably stick to the current 28nm process.

Interestingly, TSMC will offer only one version of its 20nm process to partners. The new tech will have to fit all applications, from high-performance GPUs to power efficient smartphone chips.